Philly crew in Peru for World Heritage City vote
A delegation from Philadelphia this week is in Peru, where Philadelphia is expected to be voted the first U.S. municipality to gain the designation of World Heritage City.
A delegation from Philadelphia this week is in Peru, where Philadelphia is expected to be voted the first U.S. municipality to gain the designation of World Heritage City.
The title is held by about 260 cities worldwide. It could enhance the city's status on the world stage and boost it as an international tourism site and business hub.
"We are looking forward, with a mixture of excitement and confidence, to a positive outcome in the city's remarkable case to become a World Heritage City," John F. Smith III, chair of the Global Philadelphia Association, said in a statement.
Smith and four others - including the deputy mayor for economic development, Alan Greenberger - are in Arequipa, where the World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities begins Tuesday. The group is scheduled to vote on Philadelphia's application Friday.
"It is clear that Philadelphia is a perfect candidate to become the first delegate from the U.S. to join the roster of preeminent heritage cities," Mayor Nutter, who is not attending the meeting in Peru, said in a statement, "the most obvious of which is that we are the city where American democracy was established."
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